Article sampling apparatus

ABSTRACT

An article sampling apparatus for obtaining a random sampling of articles such as fruits, vegetables and the like from relatively large produce transporting bins providing ding an elongated frame having a bin receiving end and an opposite bin discharging end including bin elevating and dumping means disposed adjacent to said bin receiving end of the frame having an elevated position for dumping the articles in the bins onto an elongated article sampling member providing an intermittently opening article discharge slot for removing a sample of such articles therefrom prior to the discharge of the bulk of the articles from an opposite discharge end of the member and tiltable bin reloading means mounted on the discharge end of the frame for positioning empty bins in article receiving relation to the discharge end of the sampling member with the bins emptied by the elevating and dumping means being movable along the frame for engagement by said bin reloading means.

United States Patent Starr [54] ARTICLE SAMPLING APPARATUS Ralph w.Starr, P.0. Box 576, Selma, Calif. 93662 [22] Filed: Jan. 2, 1970 [21]Appl.No.: 372

[72] Inventor:

Primary Examiner- 8. Clement Swisher Attorney-Huebner & Worrel 51June27, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT An article sampling apparatus for obtaining arandom sampling of articles such as fruits, vegetables and the like fromrelatively large produce transporting bins providing ding an elongatedframe having a bin receiving end and an opposite bin discharging endincluding bin elevating and dumping means disposed adjacent to said binreceiving end of the frame having an elevated position for dumping thearticles in the bins onto an elongated article sampling member providingan intermittently opening article discharge slot for removing a sampleof such articles therefrom prior to the discharge of the bulk of thearticles from an opposite discharge end of the member and tiltable binreloading means mounted on the discharge end of the frame forpositioning empty bins in article receiving relation to the dischargeend of the sampling member with the bins emptied by the elevating anddumping means being movable along the frame for engagement by said binreloading means.

1 1 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATEmEnJunzv I972 SHEET 10F 4 RALPH W$74M? INVENTOR- A TTORNEVS PATENTEnJuu 2 7 I972 SHEET 3 OF 4 RALPH l4.SHIP/P v39 INVENTOR ung-" A 770/?NEYS PATENTEnJum m2 SHEET '4 OF 4 RALPHW. STARR INVENTO/P AITORNEVS ARTICLE SAMPLING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION The agricultural codes of most states require that theagricultural produce grown therein be inspected by certified inspectorsin order to maintain certain uniform standards of quality includingcolor, size and the like. The produce is transported by the growers tothe packing plants in relatively large wooden bins having open tops. Inorder to obtain a representative sample of the produce for actual tests,the selected bins are dumped and a predetermined proportion of thecontents removed therefrom. In the past, the initial selection of aparticular number of bins from a large group of bins representing agrowers entire crop and the selection of the specific sample taken fromthe selected bins has been completely at the arbitrary discretion ofeach individual inspector. After testing, if the selected samples complywith the uniform standards, the entire group of bins containing the cropis past through the inspection station. However, if some of the samplesdo not pass the tests, a further sampling from a different set of binsis taken and further tests conducted until all of the samples of aparticular set are acceptable. This still, however, does not insure thatsome portion of the crop not tested may be inferior and completelymissed by the inspectors. Such arbitrary selection of the bins to betested by the examiners enables the growers frequentlyto stack the binsin a manner to avoid the selection of the known inferior portions of thecrop. For example, a particular inspector may consistently select thebins to be tested in a predetermined pattern. Consequently, if this isknown to the grower, the bins can be stacked so that the bins to beselected can be filled with the better portions of the crop.Furthermore, each of the produce bins contains several hundred pounds ofproduce which is difficult to dump and to spread in a single layer forobtaining a uniform sample for testing. This poses -a particularlyonerous problem when handling relatively fragile fruits such as peaches,plums and the like which are easily bruised and otherwise susceptible todamage. After testing, the remaining produce must be reloaded into thebins which substantially increases the above described hazards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved article sampling apparatus which isparticularly adapted for agricultural produce but which is not limitedto such use. 7

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling apparatuswhich is effective automatically to extract a more representative randomsampling of articles from a relatively large volume of the articlesaccommodated by the apparatus than possible with existing samplingapparatus and procedures.

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling device whichis capable of extracting a sample of a precisely predeterminedpercentage of a greater volume of articles accommodated by theapparatus.

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling apparatuswhich insures such uniformly representative random sampling in a mannersubstantially obviating any human tampering with the articles selectedfor the samples.

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling apparatuswhich is capable of quickly and conveniently dumping, sampling andreloading agricultural produce from the conventional producetransporting bins with substantially no damage to the produce and in afraction of the time previously required by the conventional samplingprocedures.

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling device whichenables an entire crop to be accommodated to insure that any inferiorportions of the crop are not missed at the inspection station.

Another object is to provide an improved article sampling apparatuswhich is substantially completely power operated and effectiveautomatically, synchronously to dump the loaded bins of produce,automatically extract the desired sample therefrom, and reload theremaining bulk of produce into the transport bins with substantially nomanual handling of either the bins or the produce.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will subsequentlybecome more clearly apparent upon reference to the following descriptionand accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of anarticle sampling apparatus embodying the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the article sampling apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the bin receiving end of the articlesampling apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical section through the article samplingapparatus, taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal central section through the articlesampling member of the present invention with the bin dumping framedisposed in an elevated dumping position and with the bin reloadingframe tilted upwardly to an article receiving position.

FIG. 6 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary front elevation of a bin stopgate locking device on the bin elevating and dumping frame.

FIG. 7 is a transverse vertical section through the gate locking devicetaken on line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary longitudinal central sectionthrough the sampling member shown in an operating position discharging asample of articles into a sample discharge chute.

FIG. 9 is a somewhat enlarged transverse horizontal section through aportion of the bin tilting and reloading frame showing a bin latchingdevice thereon in top plan view.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary front elevation of the latching device of FIG.9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly tothe drawings, an article sam pling apparatus embodying the principles ofthe present invention provides an elongated main frame 10 havingopposite bin receiving and bin discharging ends 12 and 14, respectively.The main frame is adapted to accommodate a plurality of substantiallyrectangular bins I5 usually employed to transport fruits and vegetablesfrom the field to an inspecting and packing station where the samplingapparatus is conveniently disposedfilhe main frame has a lowersubstantially rectangular base 16 having opposite side beams 17 ofbox-section construction interconnected between their opposite ends bysimilarly constructed end beams 18 which are secured thereto by weldingor the like. The base is supported in upwardly closely spacedsubstantially parallel horizontal relation to the ground or other fiatsupport surface indicated by the reference numeral 20 upon a pair ofstub legs 22 having lower substantially flat ground engaging plates 23beneath the end beams adjacent to the bin receiving end 12 of the mainframe. The opposite end of the base is supported on the lower portionsof an upwardly extended superstructure 25 of the main frame having apairof laterally disposed substantially vertical support posts 26disposed in laterally embracing relation to the side beams 17intermediate their ends. The overlapping portions of the associatedsupport posts and side beams are rigidly secured as by bolting, weldingor the like.

The superstructure25 further includes a pair of laterally disposedsubstantially upright posts 28 disposed in longitudinally spacedsubstantially parallel relation to the support post 26 adjacent to thebin discharging end 14 of the main frame 10. Each of the lower ends ofthe support posts 28 has a flat, substantially rectangular groundengaging plate 29 which also mounts the lower end of an elongateddiagonal brace 32 secured at its upper opposite end to the support post26. The diagonal braces on the opposite sides of the main frame tively,having a predetermined number of article sampling openings 170therethrough. As best shown in FIG. 1, each of the sampling openings hasa substantially triangular trailing portion 172 having an apex 173extended rearwardly with respect to the direction of travel of the upperrun 167 of the belt. Forwardly adjacent to each of the triangularportions, the belt has a plurality of longitudinally extended spacedsubstantially parallel slits 175 therethrough forming a plurality ofresiliently flexible article decelerating strips 176.

Between the spaced sections 148 and 149 of the side walls 147 isdisposed a pair of spaced substantially upstanding brackets 180 havinglower ends rigidly secured, as by welding or the like, to theirrespectively associated horizontal beams 35 and opposite right-angularlyrelated upper flange portions 182. A substantially flat belt supportpanel 184 is mounted on the upper flange portions of the bracketsbeneath the upper run 167 of the sampling belt 165 which has anelongated transversely extended article discharge slot 185 therethrough.The slot is transversely adjustable by way of an elongated adjustingpanel 186 which provides a flanged edge 187 bordering the slot and anopposite mounting edge 188 releasably secured by a plurality of lockingbolts 190 which are individually extended through correspondingelongated slots 192 in the upper flange portions 182 of the brackets180. The side of the slot opposite from the flanged edge 187 of theadjusting panel 186 is formed by an elongated camming roller 195 freelyrotatably mounted on an elongated shaft 196 having its ends journaled inbrackets 197 extended from the brackets 180.

The belt support panel 184 further includes transversely spacedsubstantially upstanding side walls 200 having a forwardly taperingarticle receiving end 202 adapted to receive and to embrace the upperside walls 86 of the bin elevating and dumping frame 70 in its elevatedposition of FIG. 5. The side walls 200 of the belt support panel includeopposite outwardly extended end portions 204 which have an articlesupporting panel 207 therebetween providing a discharge end 210 for thesampling station. Adjacent to the receiving end 202 of the side wallsare formed a plurality of vertically spaced transversely alignedopenings 212 adapted elevationally adjustably to mount an elongated rod214 which supports an elongated resiliently flexible flap 215 inadjustably spaced relation to the upper run 167 of the belt 165.

An elongated sample discharge chute 217 is mounted between theupstanding brackets 180 in laterally extended relation to the samplingstation between the upper and lower runs 167 and 168, respectively, ofthe sampling belt 165. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the chute has anupper end 218 in registry with the discharge slot 185 throughthe beltsupport panel 184 and an opposite downwardly inclined lower sampledischarge end 219 laterally outwardly extended from the main frame 10. Atiltable bin reloading frame, generally indicated by the referencenumeral 220, is mounted on the bin discharging end 14 of the main frame10. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the bin reloading frame has a pairof laterally spaced sets of longitudinally spaced, substantially uprightparallel corner beams 222 and 223. The upper ends of the corner beams222 on each side of the frame are individually connected to theirrespectively associated opposite corner beams 223 intermediate theirends by an elongated horizontal beam 224. The lower ends of eachlaterally spaced set of the corner beams are interconnected by anelongated angle iron 226 having an inwardly extended flange portion 228disposed on opposite sides of the bin conveyor 45 for engagement withthe lower surfaces of the bins in a manner similar to the flanges 84 ofthe bin elevating and dumping frame 70. The upper ends of the comerbeams 223 are interconnected by a cross beam 230 with the sides of theframe further strengthened by diagonal braces 232 extended between thelower ends of the comer beams 223 and the upper horizontal beams 224.Each of the horizontal beams mounts an upwardly extended hanger bracket235 which is pivotally mounted adjacent to its upper end by a pivotshaft 236 on the respectively adjacent side wall 147 of the samplingstation 145. The reloading frame is elevationally tipped from itssubstantially horizontal position of FIG. 2 to its raised position ofFIG. 5 by a pair of hydraulic jacks 240 individually having a cylinderend 241 pivotally mounted on a bracket 242 in depending relation fromthe horizontal beam 35 of the superstructure 25 and an opposite rod end244 pivotally connected to a bracket 246 extended from the hangerbracket 235.

As best shown in FIGS. 4, 9 and 10, an automatic bin latching device ismounted on each of the laterally opposite corner beams 222 of the binreloading frame 220 for permitting entry of bins into the reloadingframe but precluding their return travel along the conveyor 45 duringthe reloading operation. Each of the latching devices has an elongatedarm 252 which includes a pivot end 253 and an opposite bin blocking end255. The pivot end is swingably connected to an elongated hinge pin 257which is rotatably journaled in a pair of opposite hinge members 258.The hinge members are rigidly secured to the comer beam 222 for swingingmovement of the arm about an axis of rotation acutely angularly relatedto the comer beam. As best shown in FIG. 10, by virtue of such angularlytipped hinge, the blocking end 255 of the arm is disposed somewhat belowits opposite pivot end for automatic gravitational swinging movementdownwardly against the adjacent corner beam for holding a bin within thereloading frame and for free swinging movement away from the corner beamto permit unrestricted entry of a bin into the reloading frame.

OPERATION The operation of the described embodiment of the subjectinvention is believed to be clearly apparent and is briefly summarizedat this point. Prior to the delivery of a loaded bin 15 to the articlesampling apparatus of the present invention, the bin conveyor 45 isactuated for traveling movement by energization of the hydraulic motor60 andthe article sampling belt 165 is actuated for movement by thehydraulic motor 166. A loaded bin is deposited on the receiving end 47of the conveyor chains 57 by any suitable means such as a fork truck ordelivery conveyor, not shown, with the bin being carried inwardly of themain frame by the conveyor chains 57 above the lifting flanges 84 of thebin elevating and dumping frame 70. Such inward movement of the bin uponthe conveyor chains continues until the leading side of the bin engagesthe bin blocking gate 112 downwardly extending into the bin passage withthe gate held in such position by the latching device 116 disposed inits full line position of FIG. 6. It will be noted that during suchmovement of the bin into the elevating and dumping frame, the dependingresiliently flexible decelerating flap 96 slides upwardly along theleading edge of the bin in covering relation to the articles disposedtherein upon engagement of the bin with the locking gate 112. The chainsof the bin conveyor merely slide against the bottom of the bin while itis being held in such position within the elevating and dumping frame70. However, if there is any anticipated delay in the operation of thebin elevating and dumping frame for raising the bin upwardly off of thechains, the conveyor can be temporarily stopped by de-energizing thehydraulic motor 60.

The loaded bin 15 on the bin receiving end 47 of the conveyor 45 isgradually elevated to the upper dumping position of FIG. 5 in order todischarge its contents onto the belt 165 of the sampling station 145.This is easily and conveniently accomplished by energizing the hydraulicjacks 135 to extend their rod ends 139 for pivotally swinging theelevating and dumping frame 70 and bin thereon about the pivot shaftextended through the sleeve 78 of the frame. As such elevationalmovement of the frame and bin continues and the leading side of the binis raised above the horizontal, the articles therein begin to tumbleoutwardly from the bin beneath the lower edge of the decelerating flap96 which, as best shown in FIG. 5, is permitted to flex outwardly sothat the articles are discharged in substantially a single layer fromthe bin. As previously described, the control rod 102 can beelevationally positioned within any of the arcuately related apertures100 in order to adjust the opening formed beneath the flap to varioussizes of articles. The articles being discharged ttunble over theconveying flange 130 and onto the upper run 167 of the sampling belt165. It will be noted that in the fully elevated position of the dumpingframe 70 and bin, the upper portion 87 of the side walls 86 is disposedin inwardly extended overlapping relation to the receiving ends 202 ofthe side walls 200 of the sampling station 145 to preclude theinadvertent lateral discharge of any articles from the samplingapparatus of the present invention.

The articles upon the upper run 166 of the sampling belt 165 aretraveled in a direction from right to left, as viewed in FIG. 5, towardthe sample discharge slot 185 of the belt support panel 184. Precedingsuch traversement of the articles over the discharge slot, however, theyencounter the flexible article spreading flap 215 to insure that only asingle layer of articles is uniformly spread upon the upper run of thebelt prior to traversement of the sample discharge slot 185. Here also,the spacing between the flap and the upper run of the sampling belt canbe adjusted by selective placement of the mounting rod 214 in theopenings 212 in the side walls 200 of the sampling station toaccommodate various sizes of articles.

As the articles are conveyed by the sampling belt 165 along the beltsupport panel 184 of the sampling station 145, only those articlesdisposed within the sampling openings 170 in the belt during theirtraversement over the sampling discharge slot 185 are permittedgravitationally to fall into the sample discharging chute 217. Suchdescent of the articles is slowed by the article decelerating strips 176which, during continued movement of the belt, engage the camming roller195 to return any articles which have not completely passed downwardlythrough the openings upwardly and back onto the upper run of thesampling belt with substantially no damage to the articles. It will benoted that the sampling openings 170 are spaced in a predeterminedlaterally staggered pattern with respect to the direction of beltmovement so that only a small number of articles is discharged into thesample discharging chute at any particular time. During continuedmovement of the belt and successive registry of the sampling openings170 with the discharge slot 185 in the belt support panel 184, asubstantially steady flow of articles is received within the collectingchute for discharge from the outer discharge end 219 thereof and into asuitable sample collecting container, not shown. As described, the widthof the discharge slot 185 can be adjusted by the slidable adjustingpanel 186 in order to obtain a sample of from percent to approximately10 percent of the total volume of articles in each bin. It is furthernoted that the triangular trailing portions 172 of the sampling openingspreclude buckling of the upper run of the belt and have a tendency todirect any articles engaged therein rearwardly outwardly of the openingto preclude the entrapment of any articles between the upper run of thebelt and the belt support panel 184.

The majority of articles upon the upper run 167 of the sampling belt 165are discharged from the discharge end 210 of the sampling station 145into an empty bin disposed on the reloading frame 220. Such bin isinitially located within the reloading frame by movement along the binconveyor 45 from the bin receiving end 12 of the main frame 10. Duringsuch movement of the empty bin from right to left, as viewed in FIG. 2,the leading side of the bin engages the inner blocking ends 255 of thelatching arm 252. Such engagement causes the arms to be swung away fromtheir respective corner beams 222 for unrestricted movement of the bininto the reloading frame below the discharge end 210 of the samplingstation. As the bin moves past the corner beams 222, the inner blockingends 255 of the latching arms 252 are permitted free gravitationalreturn to their inwardly extended blocking positions by virtue of theirangularly disposed pivot hinge pins 257 for precluding return movementof the bin along the conveyor.

The hydraulic jacks 240 are energized to extend their rod ends 244 fortilting the reloading frame about its pivot shafts 236 on the hangerbrackets 235. With the bin reloading frame and empty bin thereondisposed in the elevated position of FIG. 5, the articles beingdischarged from the sampling station are required to fall only arelatively short distance into the bin with a minimum of damage. Thetilted attitude of the bin also permits filling of the trailing comerthereof with the bin being gradually lowered to its substantiallyhorizontal position of FIG. 2 to complete the filling of the oppositeleading corner of the interior of the bin. The load of articles withinthe bin is then smoothly capped off in a substantially level top layerby re-energizing the bin conveyor motor 60 to travel the bin endwardlyfrom the sampling apparatus and onto a discharge conveyor or waitingfork truck, as may be desired.

The now empty bin on the elevating and dumping frame is lowered to thesubstantially horizontal position of FIG. 2 onto the bin conveyor chains57. The outer handle end of the control lever 124 of the locking device1 16 is then actuated to rotate the locking arm 117 to its substantiallyhorizontal dashed line position of FIG. 6 to unlock the blocking gate112 on the dumping frame 70. The conveyor chains 57 of the bin conveyorare energized by the hydraulic motor 60 to travel the empty bin towardthe reloading frame 220 during the introducn'on of the next loaded binonto the receiving end 47 of the bin conveyor. After passage of theempty bin past the upwardly pivoted locking gate 1 12, the control lever124 is again actuated to swing the locking arm 117 back to its full lineposition of FIG. 6 in locking relation to the blocking gate forengagement by the next loaded bin. The empty bin continues its traveltoward the discharge end of the conveyor and into its reloading positionon the bin reloading frame 220.

In view of the foregoing, it is readily apparent that the structure ofthe present invention provides an improved article sampling apparatuswhich is effective automatically to extract a predetermined sample froma plurality of successively accommodated article transport bins whichare easily and conveniently dumped upon the sampling station, thepredetermined sample removed, and the bulk of articles reloaded into anempty bin for discharge from the apparatus with substantially no manualhandling of the bins or the articles therein during the entireoperation. The article sampling apparatus is capable of obtaining a moreconsistently random sampling of articles from the relatively largevolume of articles accommodated by the apparatus than heretoforepossible with existing sampling apparatus and procedures. The previouslydescribed dumping, sampling and reloading operations are effectivelyaccomplished with substantially no damage to the articles accommodatedby the apparatus or to the samples taken therefrom. Since the entireoperation of the sampling apparatus of the present invention issubstantially fully automatic, there is no possibility of humaninterference with the selection of the random sample extracted by theapparatus.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what isconceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of theinvention, which is not to be limited to the illustrative detailsdisclosed.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. An article sampling apparatus, for obtaining a random sampling ofarticles from a predetermined greater volume of article accommodated bythe apparatus, comprising a powered article conveying member having anend adapted indiscriminately to receive a plurality of articles thereonfor movement therewith to an opposite article discharge end; panel meanssupporting said conveying member intermediate its ends and having aconstricted article discharge slot therethrough, said conveying memberhaving a plurality of spaced openings therethrough individuallytemporarily registerable with said slot in the panel means duringmovement of the conveying member upon said panel means to permit arandom selection of said articles on the conveying member automaticallygravitationally to be removed from said greater volume of articles onthe conveying member, said panel means including a slidably adjustablemember for varying the dimension of said slot therethrough so asprecisely to vary the percentage of articles removed from saidpredetermined greater volume of articles accommodated by the samplingapparatus, said conveying member including an elongated endless belthaving an upper article supporting run slidably movable upon said panelmeans in a predetermined forward direction of travel, a plurality ofspaced article sampling openings through the belt individually providingtrailing V-shaped portions and opposite forwardly disposed slottedportions with respect to the direction of belt movement, and articledecelerating means formed within said slotted portions of the openingsto slow the passage of articles therethrough when registered with saidslot in said panel means, said panel means and said adjustable memberproviding oppositely spaced edges along said slot, said deceleratingmeans providing a plurality of flexible steps within said slottedportions of the sampling openings in the belt extended downwardlythrough said slot in the panel means during registry of said samplingopenings with the slot; and an article return roller freely rotatablymounted below said edge of the slot formed by said panel means to earnthe strips upwardly out of said slot in order to carry therewitharticles only partially extended through the sampling openings duringsaid movement of the upper run of said belt upon said panel means.

2. The article sampling apparatus'of claim 1, including an articledischarge chute disposed beneath said panel means in registry with saidarticle discharge slot and having an article discharge end laterallyoutwardly extended from said article sampling belt.

3. An article sampling apparatus for obtaining a random sampling ofarticles such as fruits, vegetables and the like from relatively largearticle transporting bins comprising an elongated frame having a binreceiving end and an opposite bin discharging end, bin elevating anddumping means disposed adjacent to said bin receiving end of the framehaving an upper article dumping position, article sampling means movablymounted in an elevated position intermediate said ends of the frame andhaving an article receiving end adjacent to said upper article dumpingposition of said dumping means and an opposite article discharge endadjacent to said bin discharging end of the frame, said sampling meansincluding an intermittently opening article discharge slot intermediateits ends for removing a sample of such articles therefrom, tiltable binreloading means mounted on the discharge end of the frame forpositioning empty bins in article receiving relation to said articledischarge end of said sampling means, and bin conveyor means extendedbetween said ends of the frame for discharging reloaded bins from thedischarge end of the frame and for moving previously dumped bins fromsaid receiving end of the frame to said discharging end thereof inposition for engagement by said bin reloading means.

4. An article sampling apparatus for obtaining a random sampling ofarticles such as fruits, vegetables and the like from relatively largearticle transporting bins comprising a main frame; an elongatedsubstantially horizontal bin conveyor mounted on the main frame havingopposite bin receiving and discharging ends; bin dumping means mountedon said main frame adjacent to said bin receiving end of the conveyorfor elevating bins therefrom to an upper article dumping position; andarticle sampling means mounted on said main frame in cluding anelongated endless sampling belt providing an upper article conveying runhaving an article receiving end closely adjacent to said article dumpingposition of said bin dumping means and an opposite article dischargingend above said bin discharging end of the conveyor, said belt having aplurality of spaced sampling openings therethrough permitting apredetermined number of articles received from the bins on said bindumping means to be automatically removed from the belt with theremaining articles on the belt being discharged into a previously dumpedempty bin at the discharging end of the conve or.

5. e article sampling apparatus of claim 4 including bin reloading meansmounted on said frame at said bin discharging end of the conveyorelevationally to position a previously dumped empty bin upwardlyadjacent to said article discharging end of said sampling belt to reducethe distance the articles must fall during their descent into the bins.

6. The article sampling apparatus of claim 5 in which said bin dumpingmeans includes a dumping frame pivotally mounted on the main frame instraddling relation to said bin receiving end of the bin conveyor forelevating bins to said upper dumping position, and including upwardlyextended side walls for the bins to preclude inadvertent lateraldroppage of articles during the dumping operation.

7. The article sampling apparatus of claim 6 in which said dumping framehas a dumping edge, a cover panel above the bins on said dumping framebetween said side walls thereof and having an edge spaced from saiddumping edge of the dumping frame providing an article discharge openingfrom the bins on the dumping frame, and a flexible discharge controlflap mounted on said edge of the cover panel in depending relationtherefrom when the dumping frame is in its upper dumping position andhaving an outer edge disposed adjacent to said dumping edge of thedumping frame to decelerate and to permit the passage of only a singlelayer of articles thereunder.

8. The article sampling apparatus of claim 7 including an elongated flapcontrol rod extended between said side walls of the dumping frame in aplurality of selectable positions between said edge of the cover paneland said dumping edge of the dumping frame for adjusting the width ofsaid discharge opening from the bins on the dumping frame.

9. The article sampling apparatus of claim 8 including an elongated binpassage within said main frame above and extended between the ends ofsaid bin conveyor, and swingable gate means on said dumping frame havinga bin blocking position extended into said bin passage in constrainingrelation to a bin on the bin receiving end of the conveyor and beingreleasable to a freely swingable position permitting movement of anemptybin along the conveyor from said bin dumping frame to said binreloading frame.

10. The article sampling apparatus of claim 9 including oneway latchmeans on said bin reloading frame in inwardly extended relation to saidbin passage permitting the bins to pass into the reloading frame butprecluding their return movement along the conveyor away from thereloading frame toward the dumping frame.

11. The article sampling apparatus of claim 10 in which said binreloading frame includes an upright comer beam laterally spaced fromsaid bin passage; and said one-way latch means includes an elongated armhaving a pivot end hingably connected to the comer beam for swingingmovement about an axis acutely angularly related to the comer beam, andan opposite blocking end downwardly inclined from said pivot end forautomatic downward gravitational swinging movement into said bin passageagainst the post in blocking relation to return movement of bins alongthe passage toward the bin receiving end of the conveyor.

1. An article sampling apparatus, for obtaining a random sampling ofarticles from a predetermined greater volume of article accommodated bythe apparatus, comprising a powered article conveying member having anend adapted indiscriminately to receive a plurality of articles thereonfor movement therewith to an opposite article discharge end; panel meanssupporting said conveying member intermediate its ends and having aconstricted article discharge slot therethrough, said conveying memberhaving a plurality of spaced openings therethrough individuallytemporarily registerable with said slot in the panel means duringmovement of the conveying member upon said panel means to permit arandom selection of said articles on the conveying member automaticallygravitationally to be removed from said greater volume of articles onthe conveying member, said panel means including a slidably adjustablemember for varying the dimension of said slot therethrough so asprecisely to vary the percentage of articles removed from saidpredetermined greater volume of articles accommodated by the samplingapparatus, said conveying member including an elongated endless belthaving an upper article supporting run slidably movable upon said panelmeans in a predetermined forward direction of travel, a plurality ofspaced article sampling openings through the belt individually providingtrailing V-shaped portions and opposite forwardly disposed slottedportions with respect to the direction of belt movement, and articledecelerating means formed within said slotted portions of the openingsto slow the passage of articles therethrough when registered with saidslot in said panel means, said panel means and said adjustable mEmberproviding oppositely spaced edges along said slot, said deceleratingmeans providing a plurality of flexible steps within said slottedportions of the sampling openings in the belt extended downwardlythrough said slot in the panel means during registry of said samplingopenings with the slot; and an article return roller freely rotatablymounted below said edge of the slot formed by said panel means to camthe strips upwardly out of said slot in order to carry therewitharticles only partially extended through the sampling openings duringsaid movement of the upper run of said belt upon said panel means. 2.The article sampling apparatus of claim 1, including an articledischarge chute disposed beneath said panel means in registry with saidarticle discharge slot and having an article discharge end laterallyoutwardly extended from said article sampling belt.
 3. An articlesampling apparatus for obtaining a random sampling of articles such asfruits, vegetables and the like from relatively large articletransporting bins comprising an elongated frame having a bin receivingend and an opposite bin discharging end, bin elevating and dumping meansdisposed adjacent to said bin receiving end of the frame having an upperarticle dumping position, article sampling means movably mounted in anelevated position intermediate said ends of the frame and having anarticle receiving end adjacent to said upper article dumping position ofsaid dumping means and an opposite article discharge end adjacent tosaid bin discharging end of the frame, said sampling means including anintermittently opening article discharge slot intermediate its ends forremoving a sample of such articles therefrom, tiltable bin reloadingmeans mounted on the discharge end of the frame for positioning emptybins in article receiving relation to said article discharge end of saidsampling means, and bin conveyor means extended between said ends of theframe for discharging reloaded bins from the discharge end of the frameand for moving previously dumped bins from said receiving end of theframe to said discharging end thereof in position for engagement by saidbin reloading means.
 4. An article sampling apparatus for obtaining arandom sampling of articles such as fruits, vegetables and the like fromrelatively large article transporting bins comprising a main frame; anelongated substantially horizontal bin conveyor mounted on the mainframe having opposite bin receiving and discharging ends; bin dumpingmeans mounted on said main frame adjacent to said bin receiving end ofthe conveyor for elevating bins therefrom to an upper article dumpingposition; and article sampling means mounted on said main frameincluding an elongated endless sampling belt providing an upper articleconveying run having an article receiving end closely adjacent to saidarticle dumping position of said bin dumping means and an oppositearticle discharging end above said bin discharging end of the conveyor,said belt having a plurality of spaced sampling openings therethroughpermitting a predetermined number of articles received from the bins onsaid bin dumping means to be automatically removed from the belt withthe remaining articles on the belt being discharged into a previouslydumped empty bin at the discharging end of the conveyor.
 5. The articlesampling apparatus of claim 4 including bin reloading means mounted onsaid frame at said bin discharging end of the conveyor elevationally toposition a previously dumped empty bin upwardly adjacent to said articledischarging end of said sampling belt to reduce the distance thearticles must fall during their descent into the bins.
 6. The articlesampling apparatus of claim 5 in which said bin dumping means includes adumping frame pivotally mounted on the main frame in straddling relationto said bin receiving end of the bin conveyor for elevating bins to saidupper dumping position, and including upwardly extended side walls forthe bins to preclude inadvertent Lateral droppage of articles during thedumping operation.
 7. The article sampling apparatus of claim 6 in whichsaid dumping frame has a dumping edge, a cover panel above the bins onsaid dumping frame between said side walls thereof and having an edgespaced from said dumping edge of the dumping frame providing an articledischarge opening from the bins on the dumping frame, and a flexibledischarge control flap mounted on said edge of the cover panel independing relation therefrom when the dumping frame is in its upperdumping position and having an outer edge disposed adjacent to saiddumping edge of the dumping frame to decelerate and to permit thepassage of only a single layer of articles thereunder.
 8. The articlesampling apparatus of claim 7 including an elongated flap control rodextended between said side walls of the dumping frame in a plurality ofselectable positions between said edge of the cover panel and saiddumping edge of the dumping frame for adjusting the width of saiddischarge opening from the bins on the dumping frame.
 9. The articlesampling apparatus of claim 8 including an elongated bin passage withinsaid main frame above and extended between the ends of said binconveyor, and swingable gate means on said dumping frame having a binblocking position extended into said bin passage in constrainingrelation to a bin on the bin receiving end of the conveyor and beingreleasable to a freely swingable position permitting movement of anempty bin along the conveyor from said bin dumping frame to said binreloading frame.
 10. The article sampling apparatus of claim 9 includingone-way latch means on said bin reloading frame in inwardly extendedrelation to said bin passage permitting the bins to pass into thereloading frame but precluding their return movement along the conveyoraway from the reloading frame toward the dumping frame.
 11. The articlesampling apparatus of claim 10 in which said bin reloading frameincludes an upright corner beam laterally spaced from said bin passage;and said one-way latch means includes an elongated arm having a pivotend hingably connected to the corner beam for swinging movement about anaxis acutely angularly related to the corner beam, and an oppositeblocking end downwardly inclined from said pivot end for automaticdownward gravitational swinging movement into said bin passage againstthe post in blocking relation to return movement of bins along thepassage toward the bin receiving end of the conveyor.